ovulevsovulesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“ovule” and “ovules” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,625
“ovule” frequency rank
#35,188
“ovules” frequency rank
70813
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ovule ovules
Definition Gamète femelle haploïde produit par l’ovaire, susceptible de fusionner avec un spermatozoïde lors de la fécondation pour former un zygote, puis le fœtus. Pluriel de ovule.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ovule and ovules apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
ovule
6 ch
ovules

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. ovule and ovules are pronounced identically (\ɔ.vyl\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “ovule” sits inside “ovules”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 70813, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ovule is recorded at frequency rank #35,625, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.vyl\. ovules is at rank #35,188, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɔ.vyl\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 70813, this pair ranks #49,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ovule vs ovules

Shared letters: elouv. Private to "ovule": -. Private to "ovules": s.

"ovule" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "ovules" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ovuleouvle · ovlue · ovuel · ovulle · ovvule · voule
  • ovulesouvles · ovlues · ovuels · ovuless · ovulles · ovulse · ovvules · voules

Frequency comparison

ovule#35,625
ovules#35,188

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ovule" and "ovules" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\ɔ.vyl\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "ovule" or "ovules"?
"ovules" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,188 in our French list, against #35,625 for "ovule". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ovule vs ovules

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “ovule” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list